A twin-engine airplane crashed in central Wisconsin early Saturday, July 1, killing all aboard, said authorities.
The Cessna 421C plane was on a flight from Waukegan, Ill., to Winnipeg, Manitoba, with six persons aboard.
The Price County Sheriff’s Office told the Duluth News Tribune that it had received a call from the federal Air Marine Operations Center at about 3:20 a.m. Saturday, reporting that radio contact had been lost with an aircraft that dropped rapidly in altitude over Price County.
Plane wreckage was found near the intersection of U.S. Highway 8 and State Highway 111. Price County Sheriff Brian Schmidt told WJFW-TV that the main passenger compartment of the plane was found in woods near the highway, with other debris scattered along the road.
Officials said the plane had left from Chicago and was heading to Canada on a fishing trip.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said there was a discussion between the pilot of the plane and air traffic controllers about “local weather phenomenon.” Soon after, the aircraft dropped off radar.
About the exact cause of the crash, Alex Lemishko, of the National Transportation Safety Board said, “We don’t know that yet. We are in the fact finding stage … . And we might not know that for several months.”
Two of the victims were faculty at the Tioga Elementary School in Bensenville, Ill., one a physical education teacher and another a maintenance official.
The school’s Facebook page put up a post to address the loss. “We are very sad to inform you that Thomas DeMauro, Tioga PE teacher and Charles (Chuck) Tomlitz, GCA Maintenance Director for BSD2 were killed in a plane crash in route to a Canadian fishing trip,” the post read. “Mr. DeMauro and Mr. Tomlitz will be missed by all the Tioga Community.”
Police affirmed that the pilot was qualified to fly, and that all the victims were adults.
